Did SegWit Really Fix Anything?

When Bitcoin Cash came out as a fork of Bitcoin, I thought the former would work better, and for several years used it preferentially.

The debate that led to the fork was over how to speed up transaction times. The Bitcoin Cash solution was to double the block size. The Bitcoin "main" solution was something called "Segregated Witness," which separates signatures from transaction data so that more transactions fit into a block.

It's probably been at least a year or so since I did a Bitcoin Cash transaction, but they're quick. I don't think it's ever taken more than 5-10 minutes for the necessary confirmations.

During REALLY congested times, I've seen Bitcoin "main" take more than a day. Right now, I'm awaiting a transaction confirmation that's been sitting in mempool for more than an hour and has been saying "~30 minutes" away from confirmation for most of that hour. I could increase the miner payment to supposedly speed that up to "~12 minutes." For $62 worth of BTC. On a $300 transaction. No thanks.

I've had friends who do prefer SegWit to increased block size, and therefore BTC to BCH, explain why they consider the latter less reliable and/or more vulnerable, but really I just want speedy transactions unless there's some really severe problem with the BCH way of doing things. To me, the ideal is still being able to buy a soda at a convenience store with crypto.

I may start moving back toward Bitcoin Cash.

Periodic Complaint About Proton Drive, w/ Petition Appeal

I am a Proton Mail user (yes, that's an affiliate link -- if you try it, like it, and sign up for a paid account, I get some credit toward my own).

I am a paying Proton Mail user. I like the service, including not just the email client, but also the VPN, password manager, and calendar.

I want to like Proton Drive. I want to use Proton Drive.

But 5 1/2 years after Proton Drive's introduction, there's still not a working desktop client for Linux.

They've got one for Windoze. They've got one for MacOS. They've got one for Android. They've got one for iOS.

But they don't have one for Linux.

Apparently they briefly had one a couple of years ago, but then deactivated it.

According to an informal, non-scientific Reddit poll, 28% of Proton's users are Linux users.

I suspect the Linux percentage of paying Proton users is even higher, just because there's considerable overlap between 1) Linux users and 2) privacy-enthusiastic computer users, and Proton is big on privacy.

I still haven't completely cut ties with Google's various offerings, but over the past few years I've tried to minimize my use of them.

For file syncing, I use Dropbox ... because Proton Drive doesn't have a Linux desktop app that lets me sync a folder on my hard drive to a folder in Proton Drive.

If necessary, I'd be willing to pay a little more per month than I already do in order to have that feature. I like one-stop shopping. It's the one missing link in the "everything via Proton" chain.

Therefore, I have created a petition. That'll show'em. Sign if you think it matters. If you don't think it matters, well, sign it anyway.

Wordle 1768 Hint

Hint: A way of sawing logs that requires no trees and produces no lumber. 

Not Enough? Get the first letter of today's Wordle after the ad below.

New to Wordle? You can play it at the New York Times, and here are some thoughts on how I go about solving each day's puzzle.

First Letter: S